2025 CX-5 rental review

[dishdude]

National must buy a bunch of a certain model in bulk because this time they had a ton of CX-5s. Decided to hop in one since it only had 250 miles on it, nothing better than a brand new rental.

The good - as soon as I sat down I was immediately impressed by how supportive and comfortable the driver's seat was. Also liked the interior, a lot of soft touch materials that looked and felt premium. Out on the road, the handling and ride were very comfortable, predictable and I liked the brake and steering feel and feedback, I found it to be a very pleasant vehicle to drive.

Neutral - Power was adequate but it could use a bit more. I've grown accustomed to the low end torque of turbo 4s, I believe there is a turbo option so that would really wake this vehicle up.

The bad - The tech in this vehicle is a disaster. I paired my phone trying to get CarPlay to work and couldn't, it finally hit me that it might be wired and it was. At least the ports were USB-C since I no longer travel with USB-A, not having wireless CarPlay and Android Auto in 2025 is unforgivable. Also, the screen is only touch if you're using CarPlay and stopped! As soon as you start moving it locks you out and you're forced to use the navigation knob to move around and select what you want! This is much more distracting than just touching what you want, I've never driven a car that operated CarPlay and AA like this, both systems are similar and do a great job of minimizing distractions while driving. The gauges while attractive were very dated, and for an otherwise well done interior the glove box door felt very cheap and wasn't the same shade of black as the rest of the interior, very odd.

Bottomline - It's due for a refresh and the outdated tech is a deal breaker for me.

 

[wbwanzer]

Glad you found it comfortable. I've not spent any time in one other than sitting in one at the Auto show every winter. The seats were way too firm for me. And yes, the turbo version would be the one to get. But glad it worked for you.

 

[Cressida]

Until they change that "dead" floor platform for one's left foot, I can never get comfortable in the driver's position. It's a design problem that should have been corrected years ago.

 

[spasm3]

Our '17 drives and handles great. But it has electronic gremlins. Odd beeping when the doors are opened, The front wipers are automatic, and don't sense well, i hate them . The rear wiper has a variable delay. Why the front has no variable delay makes no sense.

The navigation has just died, gives the message that our car is not equipped with it.

I also find that the brake and accelerator pedals are a bit close together, i have E+ wide feet.

 

[samven]

I just bought one 2 months ago, and it is funny you mention the tech as I was looking for the least tech I could find and definitely no touch screen. Low tech does not exist anymore and it took 4 days to get most of it disabled, I was not comfortable with the knob adjustment being on the center console at first but after a week or so it became second nature as my hand lays right there with my elbow on the console cover. I very seldom jump on a car anymore and the power seems to be more than I need but that is still an unknown until it gets hot and I have the AC on all the time. It is getting a bit faster now with just over 1k miles on it and the mileage is improving. I am not very modern car savvy but the last car I owned that was this quiet inside was an 82 Buick Skylark, I loved that car.

 

[duck__dodgers]

cx5 is a great car, but not perfect.

if you are thinking of this car and live where it regularly >90, stress-test the A/C before buying. IMO, the system needs more BTU and is only acceptable where I live. sure if you live in Miami-PHX, you get used to the heat....but still.

the system auto-recircs as an efficiency feature over 80ish. you can't run A/C via the external vents when it's hot (firmware programming). it is f!!!! annoying to have the fan run at 80% just to keep up with comfortable.
.

i always forget about this part when people ask about the cx5 until it hits summertime.

a couple of other nitpicks, but still a great car if it isn't too small for your needs

 

[Al]

I have the '25 CX-30. I have the ultimate "bottom of the line". Not even heated seats. The screen is "non touch" but that's fine. It may be me but sometimes Car Play is difficult to get to. I am 79 and I do like the newest and latest gadgets but sometimes they do "too much" These don't and I am OK with that.

The handling and driving is fabulous. It comes with very good tires. Compared to my '19 Subaru crosstrek its superior in ride, comfort and handling. This is a vehicle I bought for local driving and it fits the bill. It will be comfortable on a trip though. But I have my low-tech '18 Forester with the Turbo for trips.

The gas mileage in suburban driving is 30+ mpg. On a trip it gets 35+. I do try to get good mileage but I don't hyper mile. It has the 6 speed and my complaint is if you put it in "manual" it will not upshift near redline. That is a complaint only I would have. I suspect the AWD will not rival the Subaru in snow but that's OK.

Safety features are fine. It will not steer for you but it will tug a bit on the weel and will shake when you get on the line. It of course has the interactive cruise and auto graking which DOES WORK! Ask me how I know.

Bottom line-Mazda is not innovative in the tech area but the value I believe is superior. The price I paid was 25K.

 

[goblin]

I give it super-duper extra kudos for having a nice, classic dash with nice round gauges.

 

[wsar10]

We love our CX5.
The lack of warless AA is not that big of a deal for me in that specific vehicle.

The two biggest issues for me are power, it just does not have any balls.... I'm sure if you're used to driving underpowered 4cyl vehicles, this would probably feel like it has good power as the engine itself is a great engine. The unforgivable thing for me was no factory SIRIUS, sorry but this is not 1999, satellite radio should be standard. If I have satellite and GPS I really do not need AA.

 

[dishdude]

The unforgivable thing for me was no factory SIRIUS, sorry but this is not 1999, satellite radio should be standard. If I have satellite and GPS I really do not need AA.

I'm the opposite, if I have wireless AA I don't need anything else, it's all on my phone! They do make dongles that can add wireless AA to cars that don't have them.

 

[Dave Hess]

Nice review.

Mazda definitely needs a major redesign of CX5, they are starting to look very dated.

 

[goblin]

Nice review.

Mazda definitely needs a major redesign of CX5, they are starting to look very dated.

Isn't the CX50 replacing it anyway ?

Classic beauty should never change. I fear the day when they'll change.
CX90 looks worse than the CX9, CX50 looks worse than the CX5, only the CX30 has managed to do better than the CX3, but then again the CX30 was designed when the CX5 was.

 

[nickaluch]

I just bought one 2 months ago, and it is funny you mention the tech as I was looking for the least tech I could find and definitely no touch screen. Low tech does not exist anymore and it took 4 days to get most of it disabled, I was not comfortable with the knob adjustment being on the center console at first but after a week or so it became second nature as my hand lays right there with my elbow on the console cover. I very seldom jump on a car anymore and the power seems to be more than I need but that is still an unknown until it gets hot and I have the AC on all the time. It is getting a bit faster now with just over 1k miles on it and the mileage is improving. I am not very modern car savvy but the last car I owned that was this quiet inside was an 82 Buick Skylark, I loved that car.

82 Buick Skylark with the iron duke made a racket. I remember my mom got a new 1980 Buick Skylark limited coupe two tone silver with blue velour interior. Interesting car at the time first GM small fwd car built for the masses extremely hyped up to beat back the small foreign cars

 

[andrew_j]

Nice review.

Mazda definitely needs a major redesign of CX5, they are starting to look very dated.

CX-50, if people buy CX5 great keep using their investment, Mazda is a shoestring budget company as evidenced by dated things like 6 speed auto.

 

[drtyler]

CX-50, if people buy CX5 great keep using their investment, Mazda is a shoestring budget company as evidenced by dated things like 6 speed auto.

Nothing wrong with the 6 speed automatic. I drive one regularly, and I’m not sure what benefit 2 or 3 more gears would provide.

 

[Hermann]

CX-50, if people buy CX5 great keep using their investment, Mazda is a shoestring budget company as evidenced by dated things like 6 speed auto.

I'd rather have 6 larger gears than 8 or 9 little ones.

 

[I<3oil]

Nice review.

Mazda definitely needs a major redesign of CX5, they are starting to look very dated.

2026 is a major redesign

 

[spasm3]

2026 is a major redesign

Except for the front grille, it looks like my '17.

The body design is going to be limited to wind tunnel tests for MPG. Thats why most SUV's body shape looks similar.

 

[spasm3]

CX-50, if people buy CX5 great keep using their investment, Mazda is a shoestring budget company as evidenced by dated things like 6 speed auto.

Nothing wrong with the 6 speed automatic. I drive one regularly, and I’m not sure what benefit 2 or 3 more gears would provide.

Thats one of the good things! The 6 speed is nice, very reliable, and its not a CVT!!

 

[I<3oil]

Except for the front grille, it looks like my '17.

The body design is going to be limited to wind tunnel tests for MPG. Thats why most SUV's body shape looks similar.

Ehh very little about the front is similar